Kenyan police are investigating the murder of an LGBTQ rights activist whose body was found stuffed in a metal rod in a killing that sparked national outrage.
Edwin Chiloba, a 25-year-old fashion designer and model, was found dead on the side of a road Wednesday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, media reports said.
Police spokesperson Resila Onyango told Kenyan newspaper The Star that the motive behind the killing is still unknown.
“Experts handle the problem,” Onyango said.
|
Homosexuality is taboo in Kenya
Rights activists are calling for an urgent investigation into the attacks on LGBTQ people who face a precarious existence in the conservative Christian majority country.
Homosexuality is taboo in Kenya and throughout Africa, and gays often face discrimination or persecution.
Also read: Ruto promises to work for all Kenyans after being sworn in
Efforts to overturn British colonial-era laws banning homosexuality in Kenya have proven unsuccessful, and gay sex remains a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“It is worrying that we continue to witness an escalation of violence targeting LGBTQ+ Kenyans,” the Kenya Human Rights Commission said in a statement on Friday.
Small consequence
“Every day, LGBTQ+ human rights are violated with little consequence for the perpetrators,” he added, calling on the police “to quickly investigate and ensure the killers are caught and prosecuted”.
The Kenyan LGBTQ Feminist Forum in western Kenya where Chiloba lives, said it has used “fashion to deconstruct gender and advocate for the rights of marginalized groups”.
Also read: Kenyan President William Ruto vows tax overhaul to reduce inequality
“We want to know as a community as Kenyans, what happened to Edwin, why he was killed and who put his body there,” said the group’s program director Becky Mududa.
Chiloba’s death comes after another LGBTQ activist was found murdered in April last year.